Sunday night I finished the scarf. I’m really happy with how it turned out. After blocking, the scarf seems much bigger and softer. It is also very light, but should be nice and warm. The pattern is adapted from the Lizard Ridge pattern by Laura Aylor. You may remember it from Xavia’s blanket. The yarn is Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett. It’s the same yarn I used for Amelia’s Baby Surprise Jacket, but in a different colorway.

I am thinking that I’ll knit a bunch of scarves throughout the year and then at Christmas I’ll let everyone pick one. I’m not sure how I’ll do that. Have a “pick your scarf” party? Give everyone a coupon? Do one of those swap the gift games? I sometimes have a hard time trying to find the right yarn and pattern for gifts, especially for men. It’s much easier to knit something and let it find it’s owner. I recently read on someone’s blog (I forget whose) that the knitter will sometimes knit something with no particular person in mind and the first person to show an interest in it gets it! Isn’t that fun?

I’m a long time member of a Sunday knitting group. This group originally started back in 2005 or 2006 by a Pitt grad student. It has gone through many changes in its lifetime. The venues have changed. The times have changed. The people have certainly changed. These days we are reduced to a get together if two people can agree on a time and place to meet. The one constant is that we always meet on Sundays. The holidays have been hectic and there hasn’t been much of a turnout at the weekly knits. So today we decided to meet for “Soup and Stitches Sunday”. I put a pot of soup in the slow cooker this morning. When the others arrived we had a nice spread of breads, snacks, and desserts to go with our soup. It was great to see everyone and hear about each others’ holidays and travels. There are two new pet owners in our group and a new aunt. Seems like a long time since we were all together.

Wow, the past few months have been busy ones. There were two trips to Florida and three holidays since my last post. But now all that is in the past and regular blogging can resume. I am posting this brief update to show you a little teaser of what’s currently on my needles. I took this picture at the coffee shop during my Sunday knitting group. Got a great deal on Regia Designer yarn at the LYS and jumped right into this scarf. I’ll post pictures of the finished scarf once it’s done.

As you know, I’ve been thinking a lot about photography and trying to find ways to keep that shutter snapping. I have had a particular shot on my mind a lot lately, and I’d like to share it with you.

If you’ve been to San Francisco, and in particular, Golden Gate Park, you know that two windmills sit (or once sat) on the ocean side of the park. One day I was at the base of the Dutch windmill playing around with the camera. There was a hole in the base and I peered inside. I was curious to see what the condition of the working parts of the, then lifeless, windmill looked like. Total darkness filled the inside cavity and I could not see a thing. I tried again and again looking into the hole hoping that at some angle I could get a glimpse of something, anything, inside. Then a brilliant idea hit me. I stuck my digital camera in the hole, snapped a shot, then pulled it out to take a look at what was inside. Eureka! It worked, so I did it again. And again, and again, and again! And then, when I got home, I put it all together and got this:

So go stick your camera in a dark hole and see what you find. Just don’t hold me responsible if you get bit in the process. 😉

I’ve been thinking a lot about photography lately. I have several friends who are amazing photographers and have been much inspired by their photos of their journeys and surroundings. I always keep a camera on me, but I need to step it up and consciously get out there and shoot. Fortunately, Betsy, of JoeandBetsy.com, has started her own photo assignment, Project FOAM. Each day, take a picture of “Food, something Outdoors, something Abstract, and a picture of Myself.” Today I did just that. Here is my collage:

I’ll keep up as best as I can and post more on the Project FOAM Flickr page here. Let me know if you take on Project FOAM. You can find Betsy’s original post for Project FOAM here.

I started this scarf last weekend at the knitting retreat in Bedford. Minh wanted to try the pattern but needed a little help with the chart, so I told her I’d do a knit-along with her. The cables were a little tricky at first until I got the rhythm of the pattern, then it was a breeze. (Of course, sometimes one forgets to pay attention and crosses the wrong way and has to rip back, but still, pretty breezy.) The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Silk and Merino Worsted and has been in my stash for a little over a year. I bought it last year when I went to Stitches Midwest with Susan from the half-off bin. It is a 50/50 blend of silk and merino and is incredibly soft.

It’s hard to believe this is our third knitting retreat into the woods. What started as a casual suggestion a few years back has turned into a yearly pilgrimage from the city.

We scheduled our trip East to coincide with the Bedford Fall Foliage Festival and a stay at the Bed and Breakfast at Whitetail Wetlands. The B&B has only 3 bedrooms, yet we were able to sleep 6 comfortably in just two of them. The largest room had a large outdoor balcony overlooking the goat pen.

When we arrived Friday we settled in to some knitting while Lisa made her signature homemade pizza. Inside, the seating area (including couch, coffee table, rocking chairs, and baby grand piano) became knitting central.

On Saturday, after a lovely breakfast, we headed to the Bedford Festival. Most roads in the commercial district of Bedford were blocked off for the festival and tens of thousands of people packed the streets. I was very excited to return to our cars to get up close to The Coffee Pot.

This two-story relic began as a lunch cafe serving up burgers and cokes. The landmark was eventually saved by a preservation group and moved to the county fairgrounds where it now stands. The inside is now one, small, empty room, but it would have been great to see it as a working eatery. We continued with the roadside attractions by heading to Gravity Hill. When we reached the appropriate section of the road we put our cars in neutral and they began to roll backwards up the hill! We put a soda can on the road and it too rolled uphill. And we were all very impressed!

On Sunday morning we had a special treat as Jerry saddled up the horses and took us for a ride through the property.

The grounds were so beautiful and inspiring that many of us took little jaunts with our cameras to break up long stretches of knitting. I’ll leave you with some pictures of my walks and rides throughout Whitetail Wetlands.